How to beat Thor in God of War Ragnar?k
En Midgard.
Thor is the first big boss fight in God of War Ragnarök, and he lives up to his reputation as a formidable foe.
There are three phases to this Thor boss fight in Midgard, and we've got the best strategy and tips on how to beat Thor in God of War Ragnarök during each phase below.
For more help with your early journey through the Realms, check out our pages on how long to beat Ragnarök, Nornir Chest locations and solutions, and Muspelheim Seed locations.
On this page:
Thor boss fight - Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Thor boss fight in God of War Ragnarök takes place in a long area with lots of small columns, and the first thing you should do is activate Kratos' Rage by clicking L3 + R3 together, then hit Thor as much as you can.
For the rest of the fight you should dodge roll when the red circle appears on Thor, and either block and parry when Thor runs up to Kratos with a three hit combo, or dodge and roll away from all three hits.
Thor will also throw his arms up and then behind him to build up to a powerful clap that does short-range damage. When you see him throwing his arms up, block with the shield or roll back from him.
As for actually damaging the god of thunder, you should either hang back and throw your axe at him, or use melee attacks if you're more confident with your dodging and parrying skills.
Don't forget that you can build up frost on your axe before attacking for extra damage. It's a good idea to do this a few times if throwing the axe, as you'll have more time to do it than when hitting Thor up close.
The first phase of the Thor boss fight will end after he's down to one health bar and you use R3.
Thor boss fight - Phase 2
At the start of Phase 2 of the Thor boss fight, you should use the same strategy as before and activate Rage when you can and avoid his powerful claps, three hit attack, and unblockable move by dodging - but this time you can throw columns at him.
That said, we wouldn't make it your priority to throw a column, as Thor can catch you off guard when you're running towards one. We recommend just throwing one when you come across it while dodging and Thor is near enough to take damage from it.
Thor will eventually start shooting lightning in a line towards Kratos and attacking with his lightning-charged hammer. For the lines of lightning, dodge to the side away from them. The electric-charged hammer attacks can't be dodged, so you must block or parry them - and you should attack Thor right after blocking this sequence, as this is when he's at his most vulnerable.
During the fight, Thor will knock Kratos out and you'll see the restart screen... but he'll bring you right back. Use the same strategies after this until you get him down to one-and-a-half bars of health, when a cutscene will play out and Phase 3 will start.
Thor boss fight - Phase 3
Thor does all the same attacks in the final Phase of his fight as before, but also adds circles of lightning to his moveset. Make sure you're not standing in the red circles when they appear to avoid these lightning bolts.
Other than this, make sure to follow the same strategy as before, dodging when a red ring appears around Thor and when he shoots a line of lightning, blocking when he starts his three-hit sequence with his electric-charged hammer, and activating Rage when you can.
When you get him down to just one bar of health, press the R3 prompt to finish the Thor boss fight in God of War Ragnarök and move on with the story.